Ideal Cove and Petersburg
One has to wake up especially early to catch an Alaskan sunrise, as even here in the Southeast portion our latitude is roughly 57 degrees, extending the Boreal summer days considerably. Finding the sun already well into the sky upon coming out onto deck at the respectably decent hour of 7am creates an effect onboard that we have arrived late or possibly missed some spectacular sighting. Seemingly to compensate for this sensation, hikes of all varieties and Zodiac tours began in earnest as we dropped anchor in Ideal Bay. Ashore and sheltered from a brisk wind by the tall spruces, our botanical and ornithological interests were sated with wildflowers and birds. Wildflower highlights being the slender bog orchids and rosy twisted stalk. The wind had apparently grown restless in our absence on land and had taken to whipping up some waves to pass the time, allowing our capable Zodiacs to display their resilience.
Afternoon saw us tucked into the cozy port of Petersburg, originally an area used by Tlingit fisherman and settled in the late 1800’s by Norwegian pioneer Peter Buschmann, who cleverly used the nearby LeConte glacial ice to pack fish. Today we find several hundred fishing ships dutifully lining the docks waiting for the season to fully begin. Civilization afforded several specialties otherwise unavailable, such as a breathtaking view from 3000 feet of the surrounding glaciers with their surreal ribbon candy-esque crevasses from a sightseeing sea plane! Even from shore the craggy mountaintops could be seen towering in the distance, the impressive Devil’s Thumb foremost among them.
Eventually we dropped lines and slid away from the dock during a locally caught feast of Dungeness crab, leaving Petersburg behind us. Leaving port is always an event in itself, not just the physical act itself but the overall concept of letting go of everything holding us back and becoming an entity unto oneself. John A. Shedd distills this feeling with the sentiment, “A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are made for”, and while safety is never in question it is a satisfying thought to be on a ship that is acting like one. The sun, still far from setting, watched with warm approval over snowy peaks as we powered gracefully through the still choppy waters, seeking the next adventure.
